Democrats tense at national convention

As the Democratic National Convention kicked off here, yet another email scandal sent a bolt of energy into aggrieved Bernie Sanders supporters despite the senator’s admission of defeat and endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

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About 20,000 emails were stolen from the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers and leaked over the weekend, exposing a clear bias for Clinton and against Sanders and forcing the resignation of the party’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The fresh insurrection made some officials tense.

“Let me be the enforcer: You are not going to embarrass the state of Texas,” Glen Maxey, director of party affairs for the Texas Democratic Party, told a roomful of delegates on Monday — 75 of them pledged to Sanders.

“You will not boo,” he continued. “If you do, we will pull your credentials for the rest of the convention.”

(Maxey’s threat bugged Jacob Limon, state director for the Sanders campaign: “People are going to express themselves,” he said. “It’s a convention.”)

As fate twisted Clinton’s prospects, other officials projected calm.

“No, no, the Democratic Party today is much more united than the Republican Party,” said Julián Castro, the U.S. secretary of housing and urban development and former mayor of San Antonio. “Part of what’s driving this is the media’s need to create this false equivalence. So the Republicans were in chaos last week. Now they have to say the Democrats are in chaos.”

Castro sat in the lobby of Le Méridien Philadelphia alongside his twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, who mulled reports that Russian hackers had infiltrated the DNC.

“Any interference by a foreign government in a political process is a concern,” said the congressman, a member of the House intelligence committee.

Asked if any lessons could be learned from the debacle, he said, “It’s again a reminder about the importance of cybersecurity.” Prodded about the primary process, he added, “It reminds us also that the Democratic National Committee needs to be very impartial to both candidates.”

His brother, though, dismissed the notion that disunity could consume the convention.

“If anything, there is dissension particularly about the DNC chair,” the HUD secretary said. “That’s not the same thing as Ted Cruz openly opposing Donald Trump at his convention. Bernie is supporting Hillary. There’s unity at the top.”

It was a well-honed argument by a consistent Clinton surrogate, but one that failed to acknowledge the displeasure felt by other Democrats at the party’s convention.

“I don’t really care for what happened,” said state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, a Clinton delegate. “We’re not supposed to operate that way as a party, and I’m glad the chair decided to step down. Other than that, Sen. Sanders has come a long way. He’s a lot more polished than he was a year ago. And I hope he understands that he’s a big part of this. He can help bring us together or he can help keep us divided.”

According to the Washington Post, Sanders emailed a message to his delegates urging civility — “Our credibility as a movement will be damaged by booing, turning of backs, walking out or other similar displays,” he wrote — and he sent a text message to some supporters that reads: “I ask you as a personal courtesy to me to not engage in any kind of protest on the floor. It’s of utmost importance you explain this to your delegations — Bernie.”

Sanders has proven capable of unifying Democrats before, even during the primary. He famously dismissed Clinton’s use of a private server as secretary of state, declaring during a debate, “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!”

But division was on boisterous display Sunday night at the convention’s welcome party for delegates at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where a protest erupted suddenly from the festivities.

A crowd chanted, “Bernie! Bernie!” and “Down with Debbie! Down with Debbie!” (Debbie would go down the next day, surrendering even her ceremonial duties at the convention.)

A man belted, “Will you vote for Hillary?”

A mass of revelers responded: “No!”

“None of this is coordinated,” said Travis Thompson, a delegate from Minnesota, where Sanders trounced Clinton.

“It’s organic,” said Armando Gutierrez, also a delegate from Minnesota.

Thompson acknowledged that withholding support for Clinton would only boost Trump.

“At the same time,” he said, “too many people are too energized for a campaign that … was marginalized in an intentional fashion from the very beginning in ways that we could only suspect that have now been confirmed.

“We’re going to have four more days of this,” he added, “so who knows what’s going to happen?”